Preparing to Teach Online

as Transformative Faculty

Development

Carol McQuiggan

Faculty Center for Teaching &

Instructional Technology

Penn State Harrisburg

Context

• Founded in 1966

• Enrolls 3900

students

• Degrees from

associate to

doctorate

• 185 full-time faculty

• 122 part-time faculty

Faculty

embracing

online

education

Just beginning

to integrate

technology into

their teaching

Virtual worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Email

Range of faculty experience

Teaching online – what changes?

• Loss of face-to-face contact

• Extensive planning

• Attention to detail

• Amount of advance

preparation/organization

• Shift in instruction

• New roles

Professional development to prepare faculty to teach online

• Recognized need

• Many models, but no underlying theory

• Mandatory > Voluntary

• Many competencies applicable to face-

to-face teaching

• Hmmm. . .

So what do we have so far?

• Faculty professional development

models with no apparent underlying

theory

• Faculty who teach as they were taught,

leading to. . .

• Unquestioned assumptions and beliefs

about teaching (and students)

• Competencies and tools that are

applicable to F2F teaching without an

explicit connection

Faculty professional development that:

• Recognizes faculty as adult

learners, and faculty development

as adult education

• Intentionally facilitates the

questioning of assumptions and

beliefs about teaching

• Intentionally informs F2F teaching

practices

Adult learners:

Consider prior

knowledge,

experiences;

Uniqueness;

Context; NOT one-

size-fits-all

Question

assumptions &

beliefs: Reflection;

Metaphors; Ask

questions that probe;

Write teaching

philosophies

Intentionally

inform F2F

teaching practices:

How could you use

this teaching

strategy/tool in

your F2F classes?

Preparing to teach online as catalyst for change

• Professional development for faculty

preparing to teach online presents a

unique opportunity to assess previously

held assumptions and beliefs about

teaching and to inform their F2F

teaching practices – don’t pass up this

opportunity!

“The only real voyage of

discovery. . . consists not in

seeing new landscapes but in

having new eyes. . .”

~Marcel Proust

Transition time!

From Carol to Larry

The C2 Faculty Development Model . . .

a dedicated, skilled

(competent) and confident

faculty.

Lawrence C. Ragan

Director of Faculty Development

Desired Outcome of Fac Dev

ProgramGoals:

• Develop and support a dedicated, skilled (competent) and confident faculty to address the instructional needs of learners served through the World Campus.

Evidence of Success:

• Student satisfaction (reduced complaints)

• Student enrollments maintain/grow

• Faculty satisfaction with experience

• Increased faculty value of participating in WC programs

Competent and Confident Faculty

Student-centered, & engaged, Learning Space

Faculty

Services

&

Systems

Competent and Confident Faculty

Student-centered, & engaged, Learning Space

Professional Development

Opportunities

Research

Community of Practice

Faculty

Information

Management

System

Faculty

Services

&

Systems

Pro Dev Opportunities

Develop a rich set of offerings that span all

user levels

Entry levelEntry Moderate Advanced

Moderate

Advanced

Pro Dev Opportunities

Develop a rich set of offerings that span all

user levels

Entry levelEntry Moderate Advanced

Moderate

Advanced

OL 2000

OL 1000

OL 3000: Just2It!

Orientation to OL

Online Issues Forums

OL 2500

Sloan-C College Pass

Research Projects that inform

practiceStrategies for Managing the Online

Workload

Competencies for Online Authoring &

Teaching Success

Competent and Confident Faculty

Student-centered, & engaged, Learning Space

Professional Development

Opportunities

ResearchFaculty

Services

&

Systems

Community/culture of Practice (1)

• Create and support Faculty Advisory/Input

Group

– Serve as sounding/input board

– Define needs of various audiences

– Identify and address variety of barriers

– Generate and manage “special projects”

– Create linkage to Faculty Senate

• Address University policy of reward and

recognition statutes

Community/culture of Practice (2)

• Establish a culture of excellence in practice

and scholarship

– Support annual “faculty fellow”

– Support research initiatives (grant driven)

– Support scholarship (including

publications) in online teaching and

learning and specific discipline

• Establish Faculty Mentor program

PSU Faculty Development HUB

System and Services

• Access to fac dev

calendar of events

• Access to resources

such as templates and

tools

• Access to research

• Access to faculty

community

• FAQs

• Course demos

• Other external links

Competent and Confident Faculty

Student-centered, & engaged, Learning Space

Professional Development

Opportunities

ResearchFaculty

Services

&

Systems

Community of Practice

Faculty Info Management System

• Goal: Create seamless mechanism for

tracking and managing information on WC

faculty

• Enable targeted mailings for programming

• Enable personalized faculty development

planning

• Match systems and services to faculty

needs via program participation

Competent and Confident Faculty

Student-centered, & engaged, Learning Space

Professional Development

Opportunities

ResearchFaculty

Services

&

Systems

Community of Practice

Faculty

Information

Management

System

The learner benefits most from . . .

Thank you!

a dedicated, skilled

(competent) and confident

faculty.